Guillem Balague estimates how much Liverpool will demand for Luis Diaz amid ‘likely’ Barcelona offer | OneFootball

Luis Diaz has two years remaining on his contract at Liverpool, but speculation over a potential exit this summer has been persistent.

As reported by The Athletic‘s David Ornstein this week, Barcelona had made an approach for the Colombian forward, but Anfield chiefs were quick to reject it amid a preference to maximise his performance value, even if it results in him leaving on a free transfer in 2027.

The 28-year-old publicly addressed his situation in recent days as he admitted that his agent is ‘talking to other clubs’, although he claimed that he’d be happy to remain on Merseyside if a satisfactory contract offer is made to him.

Barcelona likely to be priced out of a move for Diaz

Guillem Balague has affirmed that Barcelona continue to take a strong interest in Diaz and are likely to try their luck with a formal transfer offer, but he doubts that it’d be enough to tempt Liverpool into selling.

The Spanish football journalist told the Football Daily podcast: “He has put himself in the frame of a possible transfer, and he has a decision to make. He has two years left on his contract and Liverpool have no interest in selling him, but they also have no interest in renewing his contract at the moment.

“Diaz’s agent is friends with Deco – Barcelona’s sporting director – and Barca really like Diaz because they are looking for a left winger. They haven’t made an offer yet, but they are likely to bid €40m-€60m [£33.7m-£50.6m].

(Photo by Gabriel Aponte/Getty Images)

“Liverpool will point out that Bruno Fernandes was going to go for £100m, so they expect the same if they are going to sell him. Barcelona don’t have that money and, at the moment, they don’t know if they can even raise that money because of the financial approvals needed.

“It would be a puzzle for them to even get the €60m. I think it would be impossible for them.”

Can Liverpool find a way past Diaz contract impasse?

With Balague being one of the most trusted reporters around when it comes to all things Spanish football, we can reliably take his word for it when he says that Diaz will almost certainly be out of Barcelona’s price range.

That could come as a relief to Liverpool’s hierarchy and supporters, but the doubts over a contract renewal may well be a cause for concern among Kopites.

With two years left on the Colombian’s deal, there should theoretically be plenty of time for Richard Hughes to strike an agreement to keep the Reds’ number 7 at Anfield beyond June 2027.

However, as Ornstein reported, the sporting director’s efforts to work towards a new deal for Diaz have thus far been futile, and there’s currently ‘little expectation’ of terms between agreed between player and club.

Liverpool would be quite right to demand somewhere in the region of £100m for their third-highest scorer of the 2024/25 season, with that being the sum that Al-Hilal were prepared to offer for Fernandes before he turned down the Saudi Pro League outfit (Sky Sports).

Barcelona might appear to be out of the equation for now, but an element of uncertainty pervades over the forward’s future amid the apparent contract impasse. Hopefully he and Hughes can ultimately work towards an agreement which’d keep him at Anfield for more than just another two years.